Accuracy: 5 m (16 ft)

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09-Jun-2014 -- This is the second time that I have passed along an international border line while visiting a Degree Confluence Point. In 1999, I visited [32,-113] in southern Arizona. The access road to reach that point runs - in part - along the northern edge of the US-Mexico border. Unfortunately, since then - due to an increase in drug-related crime along the border - that access road has been closed to the public, and consequently nobody has managed to visit that confluence point since.

Fortunately, however, the US-Canada border is much more peaceful. Although I carried my passport with me as I visited this confluence point, I didn't really worry about running into border patrol officers (and certainly didn't worry about crime). I was much more concerned about bears - so I made sure to carry bear spray with me as I rode/hiked to/from the point. (However, I didn't encounter any bears - or any other humans - at all during my visit.)

After driving through the small town of Eureka, Montana (with several quaint, old-fashioned storefronts), I turned right onto (the oddly named) Burma Road. Burma Road is a narrow gravel road (lined with numerous potholes). Burma Road headed north, towards the US-Canada border, then started zig-zagging eastward, up the steep hill. The northern end of each 'zig-zag' was just south of the international border.

At the first zig-zag - at [48.99825,-115.01773], 0.8 miles (as the crow flies) from the confluence point - the road was blocked off to motor vehicle traffic. However, the road beyond this point was still open to non-motorized traffic, so I parked my SUV and continued up the road on my mountain bike. Note that because the border clearing is very close to this point, it would be possible, in principle, to instead hike directly along the border clearing towards the confluence point. That, however, would be insane, because it would require making a vertical gain of more than 1800 feet in just 0.8 miles! Instead, it is much easier to continue along Burma Road on foot, or (as in my case) on a mountain bike.

After more than 3 miles (and a gain of more than 1100 feet elevation), Burma Road made its last zig-zag, at [48.99973,-115.00671]. Here, a sign notes the international border. Here, I stashed my bike and continued on foot, along the border clearing, towards the confluence point, just 0.3 miles away. Normally, a 0.3 mile hike is easy. In this case, however, it was an extremely strenuous and miserable experience, because it also involved an elevation gain of 700 feet! Hiking directly up the border clearing was impossible. I had to zig-zag back and forth as I slogged slowly up the hill.

After a great deal of effort, I managed to reach the confluence point, which lies in a clearing just 20 meters north of the border. (I.e., the confluence point lies barely within British Columbia, Canada.)